Identity

September 16, 2018
Pastor Clint Ziemer

Audio of the sermon preached on September 16, 2018, at Cable Community Church, Sherrard, IL

Episode Notes

Identity


Matthew 16:13-20


    Imagine this scene.  You’re leaving church this morning and someone is driving by on the road out there.  They stop, roll down their window and call you over to their car.  They have a question for you:  One simple question. Since you’re exiting church, they assume that you might know the answer.  “Who is Jesus?”   How will you answer them?

    According to Josh McDowell, 63% of students that identify themselves as Christians do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

    In another recent study of teenagers, of which 70% were active in a church youth group, and 82% identified themselves as Christians, George Barna found that nearly half (46%) believed Jesus committed sins and over half (51%) said He died but did not rise from the grave.” 

In a 1983 Gallup poll Americans were asked, “Who do you think Jesus is?”
• 70% of those interviewed said Jesus was not just another man.
• 42% stated Jesus was God among men.
• 27% felt Jesus was only human but divinely called.
• 9% states Jesus was divine because he embodied the best of humanity.
• Also, 81% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians. Gallup Poll

    Because a large part of our nation has lost sight of who Jesus is, many around us are also losing sight of who they are.  Finding Oneself.  Self Discovery.  Self Awareness.  These are all popular bookstore subjects and make for popular daytime television topics.

    Author William P. Tuck tells of a man who stepped onto the platform at an American Legion Convention.  As he looked over the large crowd, he asked, “Can anybody tell me who I am?”  He had lost his memory, with no record of his past or his identity.  His desperate appeal was: “Does anybody know who I am?”

    Our story today is all about identity.  What is most important in your identity; what others think of you?  What you think of yourself?  Or what God says of you?  In our text today from Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus asks  ...


What Do They Say?  (vv. 13-14)   

What Do You Say?  (vv. 15 - 16)    and ...

What Does God Say? (vv. 17-20)

  1. Body


    1. What Do They Say?  (vv. 13-14)
        1. It is difficult to “get” Jesus from afar



      1. Repeated Questioning
        1. The imperfect tense of the verb (asking again and again)
        2. Mark - while they were on the way
        3. Luke - while they were praying
      2. Different Answers
        1. John the Baptist, as Herod Antipas had speculated in    Mat. 14:1-2
        2. Elijah as was promised in Malachi that he would come before the Messiah
        3. Jeremiah - the supposed fulfillment of the promise of  Deut. 18:15  -- “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you - from your fellow Israelites; you must listen to him.”
      3. Common Thread
        1. Someone representing God
        2. Someone who had returned from the grave
        3. Someone JUST A MAN!
          1. A Prophet sent from above
          2. A Good Teacher
          3. A Fine Leader
          4. Still…. Just a man.
      4. Do you notice what all three of these theories have in common? The people identified Jesus with figures in the past instead of acknowledging that Jesus was unique beyond anyone before or after. 
        1. After all that Jesus had said and done, He couldn’t have just be an ordinary man. 
        2. Napoleon was quoted as saying, “I know men and Jesus Christ is no mere man.”
      5. They’d all missed the point
      6. Karl Barth, a famous theologian, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. "Are you new to the city?" Barth inquired. "Yes," said the tourist. "Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?" asked Barth. "Yes; he said, "I’d love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?" Barth replied, "Well, as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning." The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, "I met Karl Barth’s barber today." That tourist missed the point! 
      7. When it comes to who Jesus is, you don’t want to miss the point.What Do You Say?  (vv. 15 - 16)
        1. You have to answer for yourself who He is


      1. This is the Power of Confession
        1. You must SAY
          1. Not what you’ve been taught
          2. Not what you feel
          3. Not what you think
          4. Not what you assume
        2. C.S. Lewis - “Mere Christianity”
          1. Lunatic
          2. Liar
          3. Lord 
        3. Romans 10:9-10 -- “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
      2. The Exclusiveness of This Confession
        1. Messiah -- the Promise of God
        2. Son of the Living God -- By nature, eternal and equal with God
        3. This realization comes from listening to the Truth from heaven.
        4. If this is Truth -- then none other can have 1st Place in your life.  If Jesus is the promised One, God’s Only Son, then all others must be subordinate to Him.  What Does God Say? (vv. 17-20)
        5. You find yourself after you’ve discovered Him
      3. You Are Blessed -- Romans 4:7-8 - “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
              And whose sins are covered;
              Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”
      4. You Are Known (by a new name)
        1. Having a new name means…  Belonging,
        2. Adoption,  and
        3. Relationship
        4. Revelation 2:17 -- He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.
      5. You Are Given (gifts from above)
        1. Unearned
        2. Invaluable
        3. 1 Cor 2:12 -- Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
        4. James 1:17-18 -- Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.  Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
  1. Conclusion 
    1. Christian Herter was running hard for reelection as Governor of Massachusetts, and one day he arrived late at a barbecue. He’d had no breakfast or lunch, and he was famished. As he moved down the serving line, he held out his plate and received one piece of chicken. The governor said to the serving lady, “Excuse me, do you mind if I get another piece of chicken. I’m very hungry.” “Sorry, I’m supposed to give one piece to each person,” the woman replied. “But I’m starved,” he repeated, and again she said: “Only one to a customer.”
    2. Herter was normally a modest man, but he decided this was the time to exercise the full weight of his office, and said, “Madam, do you know who I am?  I am the governor of this state.”   “Do you know who I am?” she answered. “I’m the lady in charge of chicken. Now, move along, mister.”
    3. Do you know who you are?
    4. Why are so many around us experiencing “identity crises?”  They’re trying to figure out who the are apart from Jesus
    5. The question of who you are can only best be answered after you’ve realized who Jesus is.   Many around us cannot answer that.
    6. Who do YOU say that Jesus is?
      1. Not believe, not feel or think… who do you say?  When you speak, Who do you represent?  What do your actions say?
      2. Is there something or someone else, other than Jesus on the throne of your life?
    7. Having made the good confession, do you receive what God says of you?  Blessed… Adopted… Gifted

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